


Even if You Lose, You Still Win

by MsSmartiePantz



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alive Bianca, Alternate Universe - No Gods, F/F, F/M, FIFA World Cup AU, Jasico - Freeform, M/M, Soccer AU, Thalianca, frazel - Freeform, oblivious Jason
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 13:57:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3413213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsSmartiePantz/pseuds/MsSmartiePantz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bianca di Angelo has finally realized her dream of competing in the World Cup and naturally her siblings, Nico and Hazel, are there to support her. But when the American goalie catches Nico's eye, he suddenly has a hard time cheering for his sister. It turns out, though, he's not the only one infatuated and the Cup may not be the only prize at the end of it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Family's Important

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was basically born in the Jasico Saturday chat and I would like to thank holycaribus, kn-rainbowblood, the-jasico-multifangirl, justsomerandomweirdo and anyone else at the chat that contribted to this lovely AU. You guys should totally go check our their tumblrs ;) The first chapter doesn't contain any World Cup action nor any of the ships yet, but there are quite a few death children feelings, just without the whole death children part.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, that's all Rick Riordon. The basic plot was created by the people above and I just put the thing into words

Family was always very important to Nico di Angelo. He had lost his mother at a young age, and his father remarried the florist who ran a flower shop near their house, Persephone, a few years later. Persephone never really tried the whole mothering thing and preferred to ignore Nico and his older sister, Bianca, which was just fine with them as they never really liked the woman anyway, and only kept things civil for their father’s sake. Hades di Angelo was one of those parents who watched over his children from afar. He made sure they had food, clothes, and a home, but didn’t get involved with much else in their lives. If Nico had a problem, Bianca was the one to come to his rescue.

For a while Bianca took care of Nico, but naturally as they got older she resented always having to watch over her baby brother. She would much rather be playing fútbol with her friends than having to listen to him babble about Mythomagic. Mythomagic was Nico’s favorite card game and he had all the deck packs, all the limited edition cards, and even a master dueler’s deck box. He had also prided himself on having all the figurines. Well, except one; the Hades figurine had always managed to escape him over the years. By the time he was fourteen, he had become an expert at scouring the forums, Amazon, and all the other online stores, as well as local shops, for the elusive Hades figurine. Eventually he did get his hands on one. What he didn’t expect was how he got it.

  
One day he was surfing the internet yet again looking for the figure when the doorbell rang. When he opened the door a young girl about his age with coffee colored skin, shoulder-length curly cinnamon hair, and golden eyes was standing there with a suitcase, a picture, and a small package in her hand. She had looked at Nico and back at the picture before smiling timidly.

“Hi, I’m Hazel Levesque and you must be Nico.” She spoke with a peculiar accent he had never heard before, and in English. Lucky for her, Nico’s father had encouraged both his children to learn English as well as their native Italian.

“Hi.” He said awkwardly.

Hazel thumped her forehead.

“I’m an idiot. Sorry I know this is strange, but um, is your father here? Hades di Angelo? This is where he lives right?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah, but he’s at work right now. Do you, uh, want to come in and wait for him?”

“Oh thank you.” She looked genuinely relieved that he had let her in instead of sending her away. He moved to the side to let her in, and grabbed her suitcase. Bianca always taught him to be polite. She gave him a grateful smile, and stepped through the threshold. He knew he probably shouldn’t be inviting strangers into his house when he was home alone, but Hazel didn’t seem to be that dangerous.

“I almost forgot. This is for you. I heard you liked Mythomagic.” She handed him the small package in her hand and Nico’s eyes widened. In his hands was the Hades figurine. In mint condition!

“Thank you!” He gasped, not quite able to express just how excited he was. She giggled in response.

“I’m guessing you like it?”

“I love it! I’ve been searching for this one for years. How did you – wait. How did you know I like Mythomagic? Who exactly are you?” He asked suspiciously.

“I told you. I’m Hazel Levesque, but I should probably explain everything once your family gets home.”

It turned out that Hazel was the result of a one night stand his father had shortly after Nico was born while on a business trip in New Orleans. Needless to say Bianca and Nico weren’t happy their father had an affair, but they couldn’t help feel bad when Hazel told them her mother had passed away a few months ago, and after doing some research, decided to come to Venice to meet her father. Apparently she had used every cent her mother had left her to pay for her passport and ticket to Italy. She knew it was a lot to ask, and a bit unfair to suddenly spring on them the news “Surprise I’m your long-lost daughter!” but they welcomed her with open arms. Well, Hades, Nico, and Bianca did. Persephone wasn’t exactly happy, but she was overruled.

Hazel showing up on their doorstep had come to be a blessing to their family. Hades made a point to get to know his daughter, and as a result became closer to his other children. Nico had now stepped into the role of big brother and had grown up a little. Bianca finally had some time to focus on her sports, but she still made time for her siblings. The language barrier had been a problem at first. How was Hazel supposed to go to school if she didn’t know Italian? Their father had taken care of it almost immediately. He had hired tutors to teach Hazel the language and the rest of the family helped her as well. She picked it up rather quickly and by her fifteenth birthday, she was as fluent as the rest of them. And by that point, they had already considered her part of the di Angelo household. Well, now it was the di Angelo-Levesque household.

When Bianca was eighteen she had made a decision that sent a rift through the close-knit siblings. They had recently made the FIFA World Cup Coed, and she was going to pursue her career as a professional fútbol player, and win the World Cup for Italy. Sounds great, right? That’s what Nico and Hazel thought too until Bianca had told them she would be moving to Florence to train and earn a position on Italy’s national fútbol team, nearly three hours away. While it may not be that far, to Hazel and Nico it felt as if she were moving to a different country. She would be so busy training, and they would be busy with school that they would most likely not see her for a pretty long time. To Nico and Hazel, they felt as if she were abandoning them. Bianca was Nico’s world for his entire life and Hazel had found stability in her new sister after her life got completely uprooted and all of that just fell from beneath their feet.

Things were tense for a while. Bianca had packed up her stuff after New Year’s and made the move to Florence and Nico and Hazel tried to cope without her. The two teenagers couldn’t understand why she would just leave them out of nowhere. A little warning would’ve been nice. Not just “Oh hey, I’m moving to Florence, bye!” and they were more than a little bitter. They got calls from her occasionally. Most were about how busy she’s been. She had made a local pro team in Florence, while she was training for the spot on the national team. She was having a blast, making new friends and showing off her skills. She missed them. There was a call for Nico on his birthday. Hazel and Nico always told Persephone or their father they were busy when Bianca called. After all, she had given up trying to reach Nico or Hazel personally.

The thing about the di Angelo’s were they were able to hold grudges like there was no tomorrow. And apparently Hazel had inherited the trait. The two younger siblings were holding a grudge against Bianca for leaving them, and Bianca was holding a grudge for them holding a grudge. It wasn’t exactly a good system, they’d admit, but hey! They were stubborn.

Eventually though, all the grudges faded away and all that was left was longing. Bianca had stopped calling sometime in March, and April had proved to be the most dismal time of all. It was then the two younger siblings had to swallow their pride and make amends with their sister. So after weeks of planning and preparing, (read they had to force themselves not to talk each other out of it) they left on a weekend trip to Florence, specifically, the second weekend in May. They had it all planned out, and had worked it out with Bianca’s roommate, an aloof girl called Zoë. They had stayed in an inn Saturday night, and went to Bianca’s apartment early Sunday morning. They worked fast and quietly in the small kitchen while Zoë supervised since she didn’t seem to trust to teens. Finally around eight in the morning, they had prepared a lovely breakfast of whole wheat pancakes, orange juice, and yogurt and fruit since they knew Bianca liked to eat healthy when she was training, information provided by the aloof roommate.

Carefully, Nico and Hazel brought the tray of food into Bianca’s room, and gently woke her up.

“Festa della Mamma, Bi,” They murmured quietly as she blinked awake. The words finally reached Bianca’s ears and her brain caught up with her eyes. Her hands flew to her mouth as she stared at her brother and sister with tears in her eyes.

Nico set the tray down on the bedside table just as Bianca pulled them both into a fierce hug. She rambled in both Italian and English while squeezing the life out of them.

“I missed you both so much,” She said when she finally released them from her death grip.

“We missed you too.” Hazel said.

“And that’s why we’re here,” Nico added. “You’re more than just our sister, Bi. For me, you were my best friend, my sister, and my mother growing up. I have no idea who I would be without you. You were – are the most important person in my life – besides you, Hazel.”

“Bianca you were the one that kept me grounded and tried to make me feel at home the most when I first got here. My entire life was turned upside down in a matter of a few months and in the middle of the crazy, you kept me sane. Whether it was meeting new people, learning Italian, or even just getting to know all of you, you were there to make sure I had my head on straight,” Hazel admitted.

Nico and Hazel shared a look before continuing. “That’s why we want to apologize. We were stupid, and selfish. We knew soccer, sorry, _fútbol_ , is your dream and we wanted you to stay with us instead of going after it. You’ve done so much for us, and we did a really bad job at repaying it.” Hazel started.

“We also want you to know from here on out you have our full support. We’ll come to your games, answer your calls, and call you first for a change, anything. We don’t want to lose you, and we want you to follow your dream, especially since you could kick anybody’s ass on the field.” Nico finished. No sooner had he did was he pulled back into Bianca’s arms. After she practically choked him and Hazel to death, they got to catching up. The three of them spent the day together and since it was Mother’s Day, they visited Maria di Angelo’s grave, and made spicy gumbo for dinner in honor of Hazel’s mother. Nico and Hazel returned home the next day, but they kept their promises. They went to all of Bianca’s games, they talked to her every day, and they visited her as often as they could. And finally as Christmas rolled around, Bianca got her big break. She had finally earned a spot as forward on Italy’s national fútbol team!


	2. Beautiful Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was blown away at how many of you liked the first chapter and reblogged it on tumblr. My tumblr is littledeathangelo in case any of you were wondering, but without further ado here is the next chapter.

**3 years later**

“I can’t believe it. I cannot believe it! In less than twenty-four hours I am getting on a plane to go Russia!” Bianca squealed through the phone. Nico grimaced and held the phone away from his ear. “

You and Hazel are flying out in a couple of days, right?” She asked.

“Of course. I mean a whole month without dad getting on my case about the company? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He said cheekily.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Bianca said flatly.

“But don’t worry, Bi, we’ll be there. And besides, if we didn’t go who would introduce us to all the fútbol stars?”

She laughed this time and the siblings talked for a little bit longer before Bianca hung up to finish up her last minute packing. Nico had finished his packing earlier since he was bored out of his mind. Hazel was out with her friends, probably raving about going to Russia. Truth be told Nico was a lot more excited than he let on, and that was only because he had already talked everybody’s ears off about the trip. When Bianca had made Italy’s national team three years ago, he knew there was a chance she would make it to the final tournament of the World Cup, but now that it had actually happened he was over-the-moon excited. The only person who was happier about the whole thing was Bianca herself.

He had never been outside of Italy before, and didn’t really keep in touch with any of his high school classmates after they graduated. Many of them went away to college, but Nico had decided to go to school right there in Venice, but hadn’t really made the effort to make a lot of new friends, especially not after his disaster of an attempt at a relationship. Nico suppressed those memories, and decided to sort through his Mythomagic deck to keep his ADHD occupied.

Days later Nico and Hazel were triple checking their luggage to make sure they had everything before their dad dropped them off at the airport. After Hades made sure that they were all checked in and at the right gate, he pulled his children into a hug.

“Make sure you tell Bianca we’ll be cheering her on, and I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.” He told them. Unlike their children, Hades and Persephone were not on break for the summer and had work. Bianca understood, of course, but made them promise to at least fly to Moscow for the final match.

 _“The flight from Venice to Moscow is now boarding at Gate twelve,”_ A voice called over the intercom.

Nico and Hazel grabbed their carry-ons and gave their dad one last hug, and he ruffled their hair. “Don’t get in too much trouble. I’d rather not have to spring you from a Russian prison. And, you,” He pointed to Nico. “Watch out for your sisters.”

“Yes, sir,” He agreed. Their dad looked at them for a moment before turning to Hazel.

“Make sure he gets a haircut. The curls are getting a little wild, there.”

Hazel busted into giggles at Nico’s scowl.

“Bianca will probably force him to get one anyway.”

Nico’s hair had grown nearly to his shoulders and his bangs nearly covered his dark eyes. Now, that he thought about it, it had been awhile since he last cut it. He just couldn’t be bothered to do anything about it. But at that last request of their father, the two of them boarded the plane.

The flight was about three or four hours and incredibly boring. At least for Nico it was. He was too excited to focus on the book he brought and he had already beaten Hazel at Mythomagic about ten times. Finally he resorted to just listening to music for the remainder of the flight. Upon landing in Moscow, Nico and Hazel found a man with a sign reading ‘di Angelo-Levesque’.They exchanged a look before making their way over.

_“Nico di Angelo and Hazel Levesque, I presume?”_

They nodded and their bags were taken by another man who appeared out of thin air.

_“Miss di Angelo had requested your transportation to the Radisson Royal Hotel.”_

_“Bianca sent you?”_ Hazel asked.

_“Yes and your luggage has already been picked up and moved to the hotel.”_

Well that was fast. Nico and Hazel allowed themselves to be ushered out of the airport terminal. They had expected to have to hail a taxi or call a shuttle from the hotel, but Bianca had already taken care of it like she always did. Parked at the curb was a black town car and the man with the sign moved ahead to open the door for them. Hazel slid into the backseat first with Nico right behind her. The driver then pulled away from the airport into traffic.

“Fancy, huh?” Nico whistled.

“Yeah, Bianca went all out.” Hazel agreed. “So, what’d you think this trip has in store for us?”

“Probably a lot of fútbol,” He grinned and she rolled her eyes.

“I mean what you do you think will happen while we’re here? What kind of people we’ll meet?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. Meeting a bunch of fútbol enthusiasts is a given, but I don’t really know what is in store for us.”

“Maybe this trip will be like the movies. We could meet our Prince Charmings here,” She said slyly. Hazel was the only one who knew he was gay, and it wasn’t Nico’s choice. Remember that failed relationship? It was with an exchange student from Japan named Ethan Nakamura. Well, when it was working out, she had walked in on them making out, and it forced him to come clean. It turned out better than he expected though. He was fully prepared for her to call him disgusting and never talk to him again, but instead she was fully supportive. After his relationship with Ethan ended, she even had tried to set him up, all of which he denied.

Nico scoffed. “You meeting your Prince Charming? It’s a possibility. Anyone who didn’t love you would be out of their mind. Me on the other hand? There’s a better chance of a snowball in Hell than me meeting my Prince Charming.”

“Oh come on, Nico! Let yourself just imagine it for a little while: You’re just sitting outside at a little café downtown or something and you look over and you see him standing there. A beautiful stranger with alluring eyes and something about him draws you in. He approaches you, apologizing for interrupting, but asks your name and if he could join you. You two talk for hours after that and as the sun is setting you share a kiss. One full of promise and new feelings. Numbers are exchanged and you end up talking to him for hours again back at the hotel. During our stay here, you’re both completely infatuated with each other, and even after it ends you make it work. Maybe he even surprises you by coming to Venice, maybe you visit him. Who knows? What you do know is you’re completely in love with him.”

Hazel finished her story and Nico can’t help but laugh. “You’re story telling skills are amazing. Ever consider becoming a writer? But say that does happen; say I really do meet the mysterious stranger at that café, is it love at first sight or does our relationship take time to blossom?”

She nibbled her lip and tapped her chin. “Hm. It’s a bit of both. You two feel that spark at first, but it takes a while before “I love you’s” are exchanged.”

“What about you, huh? How do you meet your Prince Charming?” Nico asked.

“Oh, that’s easy. I lure him in with my Southern charm and my Italian charisma and woo him off his feet. But he does the same to me and I’ll feel like a princess whenever I’m with him. I won’t be the love child who just shows up at her father’s door to him. I won’t be that scandal that had, and still has, people gossiping. I’ll just be me, and he’ll love me with all his heart.” Her voice took on a whimsical tone and Nico found himself smiling at her.

“That was incredibly sappy,” He teased, but then kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry, Hazel, you’ll meet your special someone someday. And for what it’s worth, none of us think of you as a scandal. You’re my baby sister after all.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m eighteen. I’m not a baby, but thank you, Nico. Ti voglio bene.”

“Ti voglio bene.”

He echoed. Minutes later the duo found themselves standing inside a gorgeous marble lobby with staircases on either side. Nico felt as if he were standing in the palace of Olympus. The hustle and bustle of the lobby drew his attention to something new every few seconds. There were people speaking numerous languages and there were cameras flashing as the press tried to get pictures of any of the athletes that may have been staying there.

“ _You’ve already been checked in courtesy of Miss di Angelo, and your things are in your suites. Here are your room keys. Have a nice a day,”_ The man from the airport appeared beside them and handed them the cards before tipping his hat and leaving. Nico was so distracted he hadn’t even noticed he was there.

“Wow,” Hazel breathed and Nico nodded in agreement. They put their keys in their wallets and made their way through the lobby, bobbing and weaving through the masses. As they walked past a group of people with cameras and recorders, they heard a familiar voice.

_“Our strategy for the tournament is simple – Hazel! Nico!”_

They spun around to see Bianca pushing past the paparazzi, mid-interview, to pull them both into hugs.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were here?” She asked with a smile.

“We just walked in, actually.”Hazel answered.

 _“Bianca, Bianca! Who are these children? Who are they to you?”_ A person with a recorder called out. Bianca frowned slightly, while Nico stood by in astonishment. He still wasn’t used to his sister being famous and people other than her family knew of her.

 _“These are my brother and sister, Nico and Hazel.”_ She answered curtly.

The questions were practically yelled at the younger siblings and they both were uncomfortable with the sudden attention. As usual, though, Bianca came to the rescue.

 _“I would be happy to answer any questions you have about the tournament, or myself, but you leave my family out of it.”_ She glared a little at them. She didn’t want her siblings dragged into the tabloids and celebrity gossip. She’d rather them be able to enjoy their trip without worrying about paparazzi spying on them or ambushing them. She motioned to a security guard standing nearby and the paparazzi was escorted out of the hotel.

Bianca breathed a sigh of relief. “I was hoping to be able to explore the hotel a bit without being spotted, but my disguise didn’t work.”

Nico finally noticed that she was wearing her hair down instead of in her usual braid and with the floppy green hat she used to wear as a kid. Her clothes were casual and she blended in with the crowd easily. How had she been noticed?

“If only I hadn’t tripped. My hat fell off for a few seconds and that was all it took for them to spot me.” She grumbled, answering Nico’s unspoken question. “But no biggie. How about we get some lunch? I’m sure you must be hungry from the flight.”

They walked through the hotel to one of the restaurants. As they rounded a corner Nico slammed into a something hard and lost his balance.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I should’ve been paying attention to where I was going. Let me help you up.” A voice said.

Nico looked up and nearly choked on his tongue. Standing above him was a tall, blond with striking blue eyes hidden behind golden frames. He looked at his outstretched for a moment, dumbfounded.

“Do you speak English?” The guy asked hesitantly.

“Sì. I mean, yes, I speak English.” He stuttered.

He grabbed the hand and found himself being dragged up to his feet almost effortlessly.

“Sorry again.” He said before walking past Nico. Bianca chuckled as he left.

“You really need to work on your social skills, fratellino.”

She turned around and continued walking, and Hazel gave him a cheeky grin.

“So Cinderella, were you enchanted by his eyes or are you actually that bad at socializing?” She whispered. He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but look over his shoulder. The stranger, however, was gone. As they walked, Bianca pushed Nico’s bangs out of his eyes.

“You need a haircut, mister.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So from here on out any sentences written in Italics are when people are speaking a different language, for example the guy who picked Nico and Hazel up at the airport was speaking Italian, but since I don't want to butcher the language since I would be using Google Translate, I figured it was easier for everyone if it was in English, but with a cue to let you know they're speaking a different language. But there are still little phrases or words thrown in when they're speaking English just because.
> 
> Ti voglio bene - I love you, but how it would be said to family or friends and not a lover
> 
> Fratellino - little brother
> 
> I actually looked up pictures of the hotel's lobby to give an accurate description and let me tell you; it is beautiful! Anyway I hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next chapter!


	3. Midnight Swim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty much all Nico, so I hope I got his personality right. If he's out of character (in relation to this universe) please let me know and I'll try and work on that for future chapters. Also this one is a a little strange, but I think it works. 
> 
> Also there's minimal editing so if there's a typo, it'd be great if someone pointed it out for me. Thanks, and enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

The next few days were filled with Bianca forcing Nico and Hazel to watch the games of every team to help Italy prepare for their upcoming matches. It didn’t matter that neither of them really knew what to do, but their presence seemed to relax Bianca. They let her and her teammates deal with the strategy while they sat back and relaxed.

After a particularly brutal game where Bulgaria was beaten to a pulp, Nico found himself in his suite alone. His sisters had ditched him for a spa day; something about long overdue bonding time. For the first two hours or so he enjoyed the time alone. Since the minute he landed in Moscow, Nico had been dragged here and there nonstop with really only his sisters to talk to. Come to think of it, the only other person he had talked to here in Russia was that Prince Charming – no. Nope. The guy ran into him, and Hazel was the one creating fantasies for him and the beautiful stranger – oh my god get a grip, Nico! He exchanged a single sentence with him and didn’t even get his name.

“Think about something else,” He ordered himself. Anything. Mythomagic. What did he know about Mythomagic? He snorted. He knew everything about the game. He knew all the stats, all the abilities of each card and figure, and he knew how to build the best deck, which he had done. Twice.

His mind drifted on its own back to the mysterious blond, and Nico nearly slapped himself. But then Hazel’s fairytale in the car came to his head. “Let yourself imagine it for a little while”, huh? He couldn’t help it; he imagined it.

He wasn’t sitting in the café like Hazel had said. He was in a quaint bookshop that had probably been there for years. It might’ve been a family business seeing as how well taken care of the books were. He wandered idly around the shelves, his fingers trailing along the spines. They were all in Russian, of course, so he couldn’t understand them, but he felt strangely comfortable there. Something about the shop calmed his ADHD for a bit and he focused on every detail. How the old pages crinkled when someone turned them, how it faintly smelled of coffee, not quite the rich Italian coffee he was used to, but it was familiar nonetheless; the frail old lady who sat at the counter eyed him suspiciously. The shop was her father’s once upon a time and it was all she had left of him. She took great care of the books she took in. Made sure there were no bookworms eating them away, and that the bindings were sturdy. It was her pride and joy.

Nico smiled at her gently and she muttered something in Russian before opening up a log book. He must’ve tested alright on her “punk radar”. He tried to look for familiar titles, or at least the covers. He thought he spotted a copy of _Moby Dick_ but he couldn’t really be too sure. Eventually he found himself in the far back corner of the shop, and as he looked over those books he heard the bell on the door ring. As he looked over the books, one on the top shelf caught his eye. He reached for it, but just couldn’t quite get it. He frowned and looked around for a stool. Before he could curse about there being no stool, someone came up beside him and easily pulled the book off the shelf.

“ _The Merchant of Venice,_ huh? Interesting.” Nico’s head snapped up and his eyes bugged. The guy who practically ran him over at the hotel was standing right next to him.

“Uh, thanks.” He said awkwardly. Wow even in his imagination his social skills sucked. Wait, it was his imagination; he could do whatever the hell he wanted. He cleared his throat.

“Do you always go around bookstores helping people reach things on the top shelf?” Smooth.

The blond flashed him a smile through perfect teeth. “And on the weekends I rescue cats from trees.”

Nico chuckled, but couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

“So, you read Shakespeare. I happen to love it myself. I’ve read _The Merchant of Venice_ probably a dozen times.” He told Nico before reciting what must’ve been a quote from the play.

“Impressive.” He commented, not mentioning he only read it in high school, and this was the only book in the whole store in a language he understood.

“Thank you, uh?”

“Nico,” He supplied.

“Thank you, Nico.” He smiled at him and Nico was blown away by just how freaking perfect his smile is.

They eventually left the bookstore and Nico found himself at a café around the corner, sitting across from the blond beauty. Like Hazel had foretold, they talked for hours. Everything that came out of that perfect mouth was put so eloquently that even in his imagination, Nico felt as if he paled in comparison.

He took a sip of his coffee as he glanced around at the people in the area. One person in particular caught his attention, and apparently it was the same situation for them.

“Nico di Angelo. Fancy seeing you here,” Ethan Nakamura said smoothly.

“Nakamura,” He acknowledged. “What’re you doing here?”

Ethan chuckled, though it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “I’m here on vacation with my girlfriend,”

Suddenly a beautiful girl with sun-kissed skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes appeared at his side. She was so unlike Nico with his olive skin, wild black hair, and eyes almost as dark to match.

“Girlfriend?” Nico couldn’t help but ask. “But I thought you were – “

“Gay? My dear Nico, you were a one-time thing.” He smiled sadistically.

“But you – with another guy!” Nico barely spit out. Even after all this time, he still couldn’t bring himself to speak the words.

“You were the adventurous story I had to bring back home, Nick – “

“Don’t call me that,” He hissed, angry to find tears in his eyes.

Ethan cooed with fake pity. “You actually thought I cared about you. How sweet. But Nick, you have to realize you meant _nothing_ to me. You were fun for a while, but you didn’t expect it to go anywhere did you? I mean look at you. You’re – “

Nico’s eyes snapped open and he gasped for air. He briefly forgot where he was and frantically looked around and took in the sights of his suite. He glanced at the clock and was shocked to find it was nearly midnight. He fell asleep in the middle of his daydream and it had turned into a nightmare. He should’ve realized it was a dream. The stranger he imagined was too perfect, almost as if he was programmed to say just the thing to impress Nico. And there were differences between his dream stranger and the one he ran into. For one, the dream stranger didn’t have the glasses the other one did.

He definitely should’ve realized it was a dream as soon as Ethan showed up. His appearance just caused a whirlwind of past emotions. The happiness, the love, the betrayal, the heartbreak…

Nico stood up suddenly and paced around the room. The dream may have suppressed his ADHD, but in the waking world it was in full swing. He needed to get out that room and occupy his mind. He didn’t trust it not to make up ridiculous dreams and other nightmares if he went back to sleep. He briefly thought of the giant indoor pool the hotel had and put on his swimming trunks without another thought before grabbing a towel and his key and leaving.

It took him a little bit, and he took a few wrong turns, but he eventually found the pool. He shrugged off his shirt and set it along with his other things on a lounge chair before diving into the Olympic-sized pool. He resurfaced shortly and moved his hair out of his eyes. Maybe he should go get that haircut.

He lost track of time of how long he had been swimming, but welcomed the distraction. This was just what he needed. As he floated on his back, he heard the door open and he straightened thinking it was probably someone from the hotel telling him to get out. To his surprise it was actually a young man wearing a bright orange t-shirt.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think anyone would be here this late. I’ll just go,” He turned around to leave, but Nico stopped him.

“No, it’s alright. I was about to leave anyway.”

The guy walked to the edge of the pool, frowning. From there Nico could see that he had messy black hair, and eyes that seemed to reflect the water. “Don’t let me make you leave. You can stay if you want,”

“Are you sure? Because really I’ll leave –“

“Dude, seriously, I’m not going to kick you out. This pool is huge. I’m pretty sure we can both swim in symbolosis,” He said, smiling.

Nico was pretty sure he meant “symbiosis”, but he looked so proud of himself for using it, he kept quiet.

“Ok,” He agreed.

“Great!” The guy took off the obnoxious orange shirt revealing a set of washboard abs and Nico nearly groaned. He needed to stop meeting attractive people he didn’t know.

“I’m Percy by the way,” He said before cannonballing into the pool, splashing Nico in the process causing his hair to fall over his eyes again. He shoved it out of his face just as Percy came back up.

“Nico,”

“What?” Percy asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Nico,” He repeated. “My name is Nico. Sorry, my sisters always say I need to work on my social skills.”

Percy laughed. “Nice to meet you, Nico. And don’t worry about it. My girlfriend always calls me Seaweed Brain for being an idiot.”

He chuckled at that. The two of them talked as they swam, and as Nico got more comfortable, his childhood habit of asking a million questions surfaced. He now knew that Percy used to be a swimmer in high school, but was now an environmental activist for the ocean and all the things in it, he was here to support his girlfriend, who was playing for the American team, his favorite color was blue, he didn’t know how to surf despite loving the sea, his favorite movie was _Finding Nemo_ , he was twenty-one years old, and he had grown up in Manhattan, New York.

“What about you, Nico? I’ve told you a lot about me and I only know your name.” He cut in before Nico could ask another question.

He blinked. “What’d you want to know?”

“Where’re you from? Your accent’s different. What do you do for fun? You mentioned you had sisters earlier. How many do you have? How old are you? Why are you in Russia?” He rattled off.

“I’m from Venice, Italy, and I’ve lived there my whole life so that explains the accent. I mostly play Mythomagic for fun. Dorky, I know. I have two sisters, one older, one younger, so I’m the middle child. I’m nineteen and I’m in Russia to support my older sister who’s playing for Italy.” Nico answered.

“You’re from Italy? That’s so cool! I love Italian food. Pizza’s God gift to the world.” Percy said, and Nico groaned.

“Americans,” He sighed. “You have no clue what you’re missing. Italian food is an art, and your pizza is a disgrace to genuine Italian pizza.”

“C’mon, New York pizza is the best in the world. If you’re ever in town, I’m going to show you what _you’re_ missing.” He announced.

Nico rolled his eyes. “Yes, because I’m definitely missing out eating a grease-filled piece of bread with tomato sauce at some joint that’s probably called Tony’s Pizza.”

Percy grinned. “Tony’s is the best. And don’t get me started on Olive Garden – “

“No,” Nico cried. “There will be nothing said about Olive Garden.”

Nico had swam to the other end of the pool to escape Percy’s praises of American Italian food, but he followed him anyway. By the time he had reached the end of the pool, he was panting like an asthmatic while Percy seemed to be just fine.

“Damn you and your gills,” He panted.

“Want to race?” Percy joked.

“Absolutely not. You’re half-fish or something while I’m like a fish out of water,” He exclaimed.

“But we’re in – “

“I know we’re in water,” Nico interjected.

“Ah you’re no fun,” He yawned mid-sentence. “How long have we been here?”

Nico shrugged. “I’ve been here since midnight. I don’t know how long it was before you got here.”

Percy pulled himself out of the pool and grabbed his towel and phone. “Three a.m.! I think it’s time for me to go to sleep. Annabeth’s got this thing in the morning that she’s dragging me to and she’ll kill me if I fall asleep in the middle of it.”

Nico got out of the pool as well and started drying himself off.

 “Is it that breakfast banquet for the teams that are staying here?” He asked and Percy nodded.

“Bianca tried to get me to go that, but I managed to talk her out of making me go as long as I watch her practice.”

“Lucky bastard,” He chuckled. “Well, it was cool hanging out with you, man. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

Nico smiled. “Definitely. See you around, Percy.”

The green-eyed man mock-saluted him before leaving. Well his night turned out better than expected. Now he had someone else to hang out with here. Work on his social skills? Ha! Take that, Bianca!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, no Jasico yet. There was, however, a peek into what happened between Nico and Ethan even if it was in dream form. I hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next one!


	4. McDonald's and Tabloids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for taking a month in updating this! I was swamped with school work, and it's only just getting under control. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The banquet was certainly interesting in Hazel’s opinion. She met a lot of new people and once they found out she was Bianca’s sister, a reporter that had managed to get an invitation immediately pulled her aside and tried to interview her. The questions were simple and she happily answered them at first, but then he started asking about their lives at home; including how everyone felt when she just dropped herself into their lives, and how _scandalous_ the whole thing was. She didn’t even know how he knew that, but Hazel immediately went off on him saying it wasn’t any of his business and pointed out she wouldn’t be there if they hated her, amongst other things. Bianca took notice of the yelling and may have had to restrain her before she started pummeling him.

Security also took notice and while Hazel had said “The bastard was harassing me and asking intrusive questions,” Bianca smoothed over the situation in a bit more diplomatic terms and the reporter was taken out of the banquet hall.

Even so, Hazel’s good mood was gone and she left. She didn’t enjoy making a scene, but she really couldn’t keep her mouth shut then. It wasn’t right and she wasn’t afraid to say how she felt. But now she was wandering idly around the hotel looking for something to do. As she got lost in her thoughts, she found herself heading up the floor she and Nico were staying on. She’d been at the banquet since about eight that morning, but it was after noon already so Nico should have been up by then.

Nico had been able to sleep soundly after his swim with Percy. Not only did the swimming tire him out, but Percy had definitely been distracting enough to take his mind off of things. And as an added bonus, he generally had a nice time with him. He’d finally gotten to sleep around four because he took a shower once he got back to his room to rinse off the chlorine. He slept in peace and was perfectly happy sleeping, but he was roused from his slumber because someone was pounding on his door. He covered his head with his pillow. Maybe if he pretended to not be there, they’ll go away?

“Nico! Are you in there?” Hazel called.

He groaned. He could ignore the house keepers, room service, reporters, whoever knocked on his door, except her. He rolled out of his bed, quite literally, and shuffled like a zombie to the door. He opened it and leaned against the doorframe, eyelids threatening to close.

Hazel frowned at him disapprovingly and put her hands on her hips. “You’re still sleeping!”

He rubbed the crust out of his eyes and the drool off his mouth. “Not anymore, obviously.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed past him into the room. Once the sleepiness was out of his eyes, he took notice of the yellow sundress his sister was wearing. It complimented her cinnamon hair and coffee skin. Oh, right. The banquet.

“You look nice. How’d the banquet go?”

Hazel made a sound that was a cross between a groan, scream, and curse. “It went well for the first few hours,”

She then told him about the reporter and as her anger resurfaced, Nico’s protectiveness showed its head. When she finished, Nico put his bilingual skills to good use by coming up with some very colorful profanity that Hazel probably would never repeat, but it made her laugh.

“Why don’t you get dressed and we can go get some lunch somewhere in the city?” She suggested.

“Didn’t you just eat?” He pointed out.

“That was at about ten, and even if I did, I don’t really care at the moment. All I’ve had since coming here was that healthy stuff Bi eats. She’s more or less tried to get me to join in on her healthy diet. That’s great and all, but I really want something that I’ll probably regret later.” She admitted.

So an hour later they found themselves indulging in one of Nico’s guilty pleasures; McDonald’s. Hazel was munching on a Big Mac while Nico was enjoying the chicken nuggets from his Happy Meal. The clerk gave them odd looks, but that was settled when both of the siblings glared, almost daring her to say something.

After they finished, Hazel sat back in her seat with her hands resting on her stomach. “See? Now this is the type of delicious regret I was talking about. It’s kind of like a one night stand; it was great at first, but then later once you realize what you did you’re filled with incredible shame.”

Nico raised an eyebrow.

Hazel was silent for a moment, before blushing. Nico dropped his head into his hands. “You’ve had a one night stand? My baby sister – “

“I’m eighteen, and only a year younger than you.” She reminded him. “And it was one time at a party before graduation. This guy and I were flirting back and forth all night and well, you know the rest.”

He sighed. “I can’t believe you lost your virginity before me.”

Hazel’s eyes bugged. “You mean you and Ethan never…?”

Nico shook his head, but the look on his face made it clear he didn’t want to talk about it. So Hazel being the good sister she was changed the awkward subject of their sexual experiences, or lack thereof, to how the banquet was going before the asshole of a reporter ruined it for her.

“I met some really interesting people. The American and Portuguese teams were there and while I couldn’t talk to the Portuguese because of, you know, the language barrier I did talk with a couple people from the American team. Bianca mostly stuck with her team and was busy with reporters. But anyway, I met the center forward for the American team, Annabeth Chase, and her boyfriend, Percy – “

“Oh I met him last night,” Nico blurted and she gave him a questioning look. “Later,” He promised her.

“They were nice enough. I had said something about how beautiful it was here and Annabeth started gushing about the architecture. Thankfully, Percy distracted her since I know next to nothing about the subject. Then I met the other forwards on the team, Leo Valdez and Piper McLean, and I had a great time with them. Leo was hilarious and Piper was really easy to talk to. She’s one of those people that can make you feel as if you’ve known them for years. You’d really like her.”

Nico nodded. He probably would.

“The last person from the team I met was one of the defenders, Frank Zhang. He was kind of shy at first and pretty clumsy, and he and Leo argued a lot, but he was actually really sweet, in like a cuddly teddy bear kind of way.” She finished.

“You’ll have to introduce me,” Nico smiled.

“Definitely,” She agreed.

The two of them decided to walk back to the hotel to work off the couple thousand calories they had eaten instead of taking a taxi. After a few blocks they came across a little coffee shop and decided to duck in for a cup. Nico ordered one of his personal favorites, a traditional espresso, while Hazel ordered a latte.

They regretted it after they left. It was nothing compared the true Italian coffee they were used to. Nico had grown up with the stuff, and Hazel had never had coffee before coming to Italy so she never knew what bad coffee tasted like.

From that moment, Nico made it his mission to find a good espresso in Moscow while he was there. Maybe he’d ask Percy if he wanted to join in. He had seemed like the adventurous type. Plus, it would give him something else to do.

When they got back to the hotel, they were immediately stopped by an angry Zoë Nightshade. Bianca’s old roommate turned coach, was glaring heavily at Hazel.

_“Hey, Zoë,”_ Hazel greeted.

_“Don’t ‘Hey, Zoë’ me, Levesque. My phone has been blowing up all day because of you.”_

_“What’d I do?”_ She asked defensively.

_“It’s not what you did directly, but it’s a result of something you did.”_ Zoë said hotly.

Hazel repeated the question.

_“That reporter you yelled at today was apparently very vindictive,”_ She said vaguely and pulled out her phone, showing them the screen.

**_Half-Sister of Italian Fútbol Star, Bianca di Angelo, Attacks Reporter At Banquet_ **

_‘Hazel Levesque, half-sister of Italy’s star forward, Bianca di Angelo, attacked reporter Octavian Augustus today at the banquet held at_ _Radisson Royal Hotel unexpectedly during an interview. Augustus claims he was asking Levesque her thoughts on di Angelo’s fame when the eighteen year old lunged at him.’_

Both Hazel and Nico swore as they skimmed over the rest of the article. Apparently that Octavian prick was trying to get revenge on Hazel by tarnishing her reputation, even going as far as including her sudden appearance in their lives. None of it was nice.

_“Now you see what I’ve been dealing with?”_ Zoë spat. _“The topic may be you, Hazel, but it’s bringing some bad publicity to the team since Bianca’s name is in the headline. And the hotel isn’t happy with me either; they don’t want to be involved.”_

_“Well, what’re we going to do?”_ Hazel asked.

_“You two are not going to do anything,”_

_“But –“_

_“No. I’m having Phoebe take care of it. She’ll handle the press and calm things down. Until then, the two of you are going to keep your heads down, at least until the game on Saturday. After that you’re free to do whatever.”_

The siblings shared a look and resigned. This was Bianca’s dream, and they wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it.

Zoë’s phone chimed and the coach let out a frustrated noise. _“It’s Phoebe. Go upstairs and stay out of the sight for a while.”_

And with that she left, yelling into her phone as she did.

Hazel sighed, and Nico put his arm around her. He pressed his lips to the top of her head.

“It’s alright. This whole thing will blow over in a few days, and no one is even going to remember it.” He assured her.

“But what if it doesn’t? The hotel said they don’t want to be involved. What if they kick us out? I don’t want to mess things up for Bianca.” She mumbled.

Nico led her to the elevators. “Zoë said Phoebe, whoever that is, take care of it. And have you seen Zoë not get her way? Everything’ll be fine, and we’ll celebrate Italy’s first win this weekend.”

The doors opened and Hazel grinned as they walked inside. “That’s true; Zoë can be pretty scary.”

They rode up to their floor in comfortable silence, and just before they reached their rooms Hazel piped up.

“Oh, right! I forgot to tell you, but Bianca invited us to their practice tomorrow if we wanted to. Do you want to go?”

“Sure,” Nico agreed.

“Ok, I’ll send you the schedule.”

They parted ways after that, and Nico’s phone buzzed as Hazel’s text came through. He set an alarm for the next day so he’d get there on time before pulling out his laptop and joining an online game of Mythomagic. Sometimes he couldn’t believe he still played the game, and his dad thought it was a waste of time now that he was in college, but his sisters always told him seeing him nerd out was pretty adorable; not that he was adorable. Nope. Definitely not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter is where things will finally pick up, I promise! I know it's kind of boring right now, but I didn't want the romance to just be like "BOOM HERE I AM" and everyone could use some death sibling feels. But yes! Jason and Nico will actually talk to each other in the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> "Festa della Mamma, Bi" - Happy Mother's Day, Bi. 
> 
> I really hope you liked the first chapter! I have a really good feeling about this fic and I hope I can continue this!


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